Postelsia 87 
passing comment here. The seeds at the time 
of maturity are covered with a mucilaginous 
substance. The bursting fruit shoots out the 
seed with considerable force and as the flying 
missile strikes a branch it adheres and is held in 
place. When such a seed, stuck on to a young 
hemlock branch, germinates, the young seedling 
finds the substratum it wants and quickly estab- 
lishes itself. Where the hemlock forms a large 
element of the forest composition, there the ad- 
vent of the parasite is especially dangerous, since 
the trees stand in such close proximity to each 
other as to facilitate the transfer of seeds from 
oner vo wnerorner, “Whe jother ‘conilerous: trees 
of the region seem to be immune against this 
mistletoe, for is was never observed upon any 
other host than the hemlock. 
Another plant, a representative of the Oro- 
banchacee, which shows a peculiar parasitic 
habit, is Boschniakia strobilacea. This is of 
frequent occurrence in most places where the 
salal, Gaultheria shallon, abounds, for it grows 
as a parasite upon the roots of this shrub. 
It produces peculiar bulb-like almost spherical 
